


Hold it in, and now they know

by Keenir



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Amora ships Loki/Sif, Asgardian Culture, Gen, Island of Lyngvi, Jane ships Loki/Sif, Prince of Persia:Sands of Time reference, Ragnarok doesn't come when Jane and Amora are on the same side of an argument...who knew?, Relationship Discussions, Sif doesn't want to act on her feelings - she hasn't for a long times, bonfire discussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2014-01-27
Packaged: 2018-01-05 17:39:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keenir/pseuds/Keenir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jane speaks to Sif about Svartalfheim and about Sif getting what she's wanted all along.  And then Amora chimes in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [que_sera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/que_sera/gifts).



> Yes, the title is borrowed from a Frozen song. Your point?

**UK, MIDGARD, NINE REALMS:**

Sif sat in the chair overlooking so much of the city here – little, so young, bright and showy like Fandral and Loki performing – and thought on what Thor had said.

‘Loki is dead’ had been what her mind clamped down upon, worrying free each possible morsel of accounting from her prince. Even now, on a balcony not terribly dissimilar from a clifftop, her mind continued to gnaw at everything he had spoken of, trying to get at the marrow of truth.

‘Had he lived, verily a great many glasses would I have raised to praise and honor his guile and magic in the battle,’ Thor had said.

‘That is the norm at feasts,’ had been Sif’s reply.

‘I speak not of in feasts, but at other hours.’ And that had taken Sif by surprise.

_Normally, Thor’s words are as much there to keep us humble, as Loki’s tricks are – both serve to bring us up short when we grow too full of ourselves. Mocking me about the fire on Vanaheim. Shrinking the number of trolls we were hidden from the sight of._

She remained on the balcony, not stirring; she had endured colder and had endured muggier conditions than these. And the climate was least of things on her mind.

“Sif?” Jane asks. When there is no reply, Jane comes out onto the balcony, letting the door slide shut. “Can I sit down?”

“You are lord of this estate,” answers a corner of Sif not occupied with thought.

“Actually it’s Darcy’s. I know, I know, but there are advantages to being the one who does the paperwork for everything.”

Sif doesn’t answer that – _for what answer is there to that? Loki would have a question. But he is not here. He is no more._

“We’re all worried,” Jane says. “Well, I am. Darcy is, too, but she figures you need space after you zoned out when Thor was ending his story. Thor’s certain you just need some alone time – I swear he mentioned ‘warrior separation’…that’s Asgardian for ‘feminine problems,’ isn’t it? Erik’s not sure whether to offer you a drink or give you one of his stress balls – they do help. Ian…I honestly have no idea what Ian wants. I think Ian wants to kneel at your feet.”

“Not the first,” Sif mutters with that same corner of herself. “And no, Asgardian feminine problems do not require separation.”

“Oh.”

“And yourself?”

“Well, when mine come around -”

“You mentioned concern. Why are you concerned for me?” Sif asked her.

“You’re kidding, right? Is this a joke?” Jane asked.

“Why would I offer jest to one who offers concern?” Sif asked, pulling more of her attention to deal with this, and away from her analysis of Thor’s telling of the events on Svartalfheim.

“I don’t kn…” Jane said. “Look, I only know Loki from what he did here on Earth not that long ago. You’ve known him a hell- a heck of a lot longer than that. And even in the myths, Loki has people he can call friends, people who worry about him.”

 _Yes, he did. A few still do._ “I was here once,” Sif said. “Londinium.”

She could hear Jane’s hesitation, listened to the mortal’s breath. “Was it nice?”

“It was a city,” is the most Sif can bring herself to say. “Each one has its appeals. But few last long enough…not for a return visit.”

“This city’s still here,” Jane said.

“Londinium is gone. London is here,” Sif said, her eyes watching the horizon, peering towards where the river had been when last they’d been here. “Loki is gone. What is here?”

“Uh, death doesn’t work like that…at least not on Earth. But that was kinda your point, wasn’t it?”

Sif said nothing.

Feeling like it was a good idea, Jane reached over and put a hand on Sif’s shoulder. “Loki wasn’t all bad.”

“Axiomatic – even Amora has her virtues,” Sif muttered.

“Iii don’t know who that is,” Jane said. “But what I meant was that, after you held the knife to his throat, and Volstagg threatened him, and Fandral jumped out of the boat…” and Sif could just picture Jane shaking her head at the image – Sif nearly did so herself, having witnessed them all doing those very things so many times before. “Loki saved my life,” Jane said. “Twice.”

“Thor said -”

“Thor was busy fighting.”

“You were witness to it.” Sif moved slowly, like she was stone and not the flesh she is, turning her head upon her shoulders to look at Jane and say, “I should like to hear this tale, please, Jane Foster.”

She nodded. “Sure. The short version is that Loki used his body to shield me from an explosion, then he knocked me out of the way to save me from an implosion grenade. The long version is…”

**~~~~~~~~~~~**

A tiny grasping-to-rational portion of her brain pointed out that even the Moon was getting ready for sleep now, _lookit the sky!_ Jane considered the possibility that her mood was influenced from the adrenaline and whatnot of the last few days, or from sleep deprivation from staying up to talk with her newest good friend Sif. “You like him! Loki,” Jane said, grinning.

“You are mistaken, Jane Foster,” Sif said, as evenly as she had spoken when night had fallen before them across the city.

“I may be a scientist who people say likes her equipment more than people, but I know a thing or two – and then some – about loss,” Jane said soberly.

 _Ah, so you speak from the perspective of grieving one who has passed, not from affection. My mistake._ “I mourned him once,” Sif says. “Thor spoke to you of the breaking of the Bifrost?” When Jane nods, “Yes, then. And now I shall mourn one last time.”

“People don’t mourn someone they don’t miss.”

Sif tries to think how old she was when she grew out of that line of thinking, _when I learned how we are bound – one to another, by loyalties, by obligation, by oaths and swearings._ Even when she has a rough recall of her age at the time, she doesn’t say it. She says, “I swore to serve Asgard, and to defend the royal family. If I feel affection for either prince, I do not permit it to impact how I live or how I fight.”

“And yet you mourned him,” Jane pointed out. “And you told me you’re going to mourn him again.”

“Loki was my king, whom I disobeyed. Loki has ever been my prince, whose passing must be mourned.”

“Twice?”

“Buri died three times, and was mourned upon each occasion,” Sif said.

“Relative?” Jane asked, sure she’d heard the name somewhere.

“Buri, father of Bor, father of Odin, father of Thor and Loki.”

“And before Buri?”

“There was darkness. Ymir roamed the cosmos alone until his spawn were able to join him in battle against the Dark Elves.”

Jane considered, then tried this tack, “If Loki hadn’t been part of the royal family, would you have let yourself feel anything for him?”

Something in Sif’s face twitched, and she looked at Jane.

To her credit, even under such a gaze as hers, Jane did not flinch or swallow.

“A good question, one I will reply to in kind,” Sif said. “If Thor had not been Thor, would you have let him come close enough that you came to love him?”

“Um, when I met him, Thor wasn’t Thor,” Jane said.

“He lacked Mjolnir and his great strength. Are you suggesting he lacked his voice, wit, and knowledge as well? The great Thor lacked muscles?” Sif asked, her voice suggesting to Jane that those abs were a source of great amusement to Thor’s friends.

“He had those,” Jane admitted. “And yeah, I hung around him because I wanted to know what he knew…even if I did think he was crazy.”

“Gods often are,” Sif remarked.

“Personal experience?” Jane asked, sounding remarkably like Darcy right there, _and oh god, was that the sun coming up?_

“Of the two of them, Loki used to be the saner one.”

“That’s a worrying thought.” _That he’s not the sane one, just the sane-er one._ “But say it happened,” Jane suggested. “That somehow, Loki wasn’t in line to succeed Odin or Thor or whomever. Say you still met Loki anyway.”

“And my innermost thoughts coincide with those from reality wherein Loki is royalty?” Sif asked.

Jane nodded.

“I would love him,” said quite quietly. Even if Thor had been standing at the balcony door, he would have missed that admission. “His passing leaves a tang in my heart, a harsh bitterness in my throat. Are you pleased, Jane Foster, that I should confide such things to you, that none others have heard pass my lips?”

“I’m not happy, Sif, no – but I also know better than most people, just how much it hurts to bottle things up inside. One of the advantages of hanging around machines – they don’t mind the occasional venting or rambling.”

“And nothing is changed,” Sif said. “Nor would anything be changed if Loki were somehow alive.”

“Why not? You could tell him how you feel? I bet he feels the same way.”

Sif looked at Jane again, but this time it was more full of pity and sorrow. “Nearly did I forget you are human. That you are mortal. That your kind may have sold one another, but you do not live long enough to engage in the trade of yourselves for personal advantage.”

“If you mean what I think you mean, we’ve got that. You mean like a night of passion in return for a promotion?”

“Ah, Thor mentioned to you how Fandral’s brother got his cavalry promotion?” _‘A waste of a perfectly good soldier,’ his commander told me when I spoke to her later about it, after we struck down the trolls who had taken out his unit. ‘Men should stay in the infantry, it’s what they’re good at,’ she then added pointedly._

“No,” Jane said.

“Yes to your unspoken thought you fear to ask. Yes, I have never been touched by those who have or stood to have authority over me. Yes, it must be planned for more than years and decades ahead. We live for millennia, and can exist for millions of years. I sought my ascent to be entirely by merit, and it has been.”

“And being their friend would ruin that,” Jane said, getting it.

“Half of Asgard is friend of the princes,” _and half of that has slept with Thor._ “Friendship is a matter of comraderie, of support and defense, of words and blades. Friendship is what knits a unit into a force which wins,” Sif said. “My oaths are to what is more important than myself.”

“But you have a right to -”

“To personal happiness while Asgard falls? To dance upon the stones while my friends die?” Sif asked, her tone reminding Jane that even the _good_ gods of myth could and often were quite deadly.

“No!” Jane objected. “But the two aren’t as mutually incompatible as you’ve been thinking.”

“Then answer, pray tell, how should I have fared through my life, o future queen of Asgard. Should I have dallied with Loki, letting whispers and resentments build as all felt I did not deserve my place on the battlefield? Should I have kept out of the male profession of warriorship, out of the female profession of cavalry, and lived out my life in the elderly profession of knitting?”

Jane blinked. _How did we get to knitting?_ “No. I just think you should -”

“I am no man to let myself be permitted a life of distraction. I am no wight to think I can have all I want. I am no dwarf to craft a fiction to comfort me.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~**

**LYNGVI, ASGARD, NINE REALMS:**

The island of Lyngvi ever has sat in the lake Amsvartnir, which had been fed by the river Ván. In the days of Bor and Buri, a prisoner had been kept on this island. But by the time Odin came to the throne, the captive had died.

Sif stood before the massive bonfire she had made on the spot where the bygone prisoner had been chained down. _From one prisoner to another, in both senses,_ she thought with a spark of amusement which flickered through her mind but failed to reach her face.

Jane’s words clung to her mind, permeated her thoughts, weighing down each deed Thor had said Loki had done. Sif did not try overly hard to shake free of Jane’s offered revelation, but nor was it comfortable where it sat on her mind.

As the stars wheeled overhead, a cloud appeared to one side of Sif, all green smoke it was.

It was green on the edges, not through to its depth, not sufficient to trick Sif. “Amora,” she said.

“Hail, Sif,” Amora said as the cloud dispersed. “You mourn?”

“I do. I would not fight you today. Another time, perhaps?”

“Of course,” Amora said, willing to concede that. “Loki?”

“Loki. Died saving his brother Thor our prince,” Sif said.

“A good end, then.”

Suspecting that needling Sif would be as productive an endeavor as making Fandral watch Heimdall and Volstagg eat, Amora said naught. Popular opinion thought otherwise, but she could indeed be patient.

And, in time, Amora was given an answer: “How I envy you.”

Amora startled. “You? You envy me? Sif the warrior held in highest regard by all whose regard I would kill for?”

“I do,” Sif said. “Your placement made it easy for the princes to be in opposition to you. Had I been like you, I too could have dallied.”

‘Opposition.’ That state in which not-really-enemies and somewhat-friends existed, providing someones to spar and adventure against… ‘rival teams’ a human might say, ‘rivals ready to fight alongside one another at a moment’s need.’

“I thought you preferred mortals for that,” Amora said. “And there was not much in the way of dalliance – I suspect Prince Thor’s mortal has had more amorous moments with him than I had.” She watched Sif’s face keep still and unresponsive to that painful admission. “Ah. Loki.”

“So it was true?”

 _How easy it would be to string her along and toy with her thoughts and mess with her mind, making her question her memories._ “Loki and I never did.” _His eyes were caught elsewhere._ “You would have been willing to trade in your ties to the princes and their friendships, to join me in opposition to ease your heart with Loki?”

Rumors flow when one romances their superior or their junior, not when one romances someone they are oft in conflict with. “I would not trade it in. But I would have not objected to being their enemy at times.”

“Rarely as satisfying as it could have been,” Amora granted her. “There is an artifact I have heard of, Sif, which can reverse the flow of time and permit one to move back to an earlier point in life. It is the sort of quest I would enjoy taking, I believe.”

“Thank you, but I have come this far, and shall not quail from continuing onwards,” Sif said.

“Prince Thor will be appreciative,” Amora remarked.

Sif said nothing.

“For surely he will need strong shoulders to support him through his grief and mourning when the mortal perishes.”

“He will not turn to me, Amora. He does not see me in that way, nor would I permit him to. I fight alongside him and that is the value he sees to me.”

“Yes, a lord beholding his vassal in armor,” Amora said. “Perhaps that was the problem with Loki, Sif – he might have been attracted to you had you been cavalry.”

 _Like all the other women of my family?_ “Had I been cavalry, he would still have been my prince,” Sif said. “The signifigance would not have changed. Nor would the obstacle.” _There is a reason why all but one of the men of my family are farmers and fishers._

“An obstacle you fortify and justify the armoring of that fortification. I begin to wonder if you would have been saner upon the throne to begin with, rather than serving it.”

“Had the Redcap Rebellion succeeded, perhaps I would be,” Sif said. “Saner, not enthroned.” _Loki would be a commoner, a soldier at best; the same for Thor, which wouldn’t have mattered to Amora._ “Another reason you are the luckier one.”

“You think me sane? Few in Asgard share that thought,” Amora noted.

Sif shook her head. “I shrouded my heart so I could pursue friendships and rise in the ranks. I chose one over the other. You…you kept them apart, pursuing each separately.” _Even your love for our prince, your desire to have him be yours, has little to naught to do with a desire for authority or the throne._

Amora looked down for a bit, watching the flames around the bonfire’s edge. “Ever the keen-eyed observer, you are. But as you said, it is easier for me to do thus, when I am frequently opposing them. Were I to have spent as much time in their company as you have, I have every doubt it would have been far harder. Were I not me, I would be Sif.”

“And were I not me, I would be Amora.”

They both, Sif and Amora, cracked a smile, recognizing it for what it was – utter truth, and utter impossibility.

After a long while of silence, Amora asked, “Can you speak to me of how our princes met Prince Loki’s end?”

“I can and I shall,” Sif said, and retold what Thor and Jane had said to Sif.

**~~~~~~~~~~~**

Loki watched. And listened.

Veiled from senses in a way not even Sif could notice, familiar as she was with all his pre-fall methods. Veiled from magic in a way not even Amora could notice, powerful and reaching as her talent was.

“Sif…?” Loki mouthed. You feel that way for me? You have felt that way for me? And, shaking his head, mouthed that “This needs to be rectified. But how to win against so many millennia of restraint and self-control, of denial and unshakeable loyalty?”

Loki thought for a good long time, there and back in the throne room later. He considered and mused and pondered until he had potential solutions worth attempting.


	2. Caesar Foster

Jane was in her apartment the next day, alone while Darcy was out getting groceries and Thor...Jae wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know why SHIELD needed Thor's help so soon - and again - Jane busied herself around the apartment. _Triple-checked my findings for spelling mistakes, miscalculations, and more. Nothing left but... suppose I have to clean, or I could take a nap. Yeah, I think - whoa,_ as a slowly-swirling green cloud appeared in the room.

The cloud dispersed, revealing a blonde woman looking perfectly lethal despite a lack of weapons or armor. She turned her head, taking in her surroundings, and when she saw Jane - extended an arm, palm open - and Jane found herself moving through the air again - _Malekith was bad enough_ \- until Jane stopped.

Stopped because the woman had grabbed Jane by the throat at the base of her head, and lifted slightly - Jane's toes could still touch the ground - and moved Jane so their eyes were close and looking into each other's depths. Her nostrils flared, taking in Jane's scent.

And then she set Jane down, letting go, and examining her nails as though Jane weren't even there.

"Who the hell are you?" Jane demanded.

Eyes flicking back to her, "No, I'm not her. I am Amora."

"That's what I as-" And Jane stopped that right there, remembering one of the questions she'd meant to ask but never had gotten around to. "What were you doing that for?"

"Civility requires introductions," Amora said.

To Jane, it sounded like Amora was very close to enunciating things for Jane's benefit. "I appreciate that. But I meant before - what were you doing when you had your hand around my neck?" _I make a habit of not kissing perfect strangers, so if that was your intention..._

"I was curious about Prince Thor's mortal."

"And now?"

"Bored."

"Nobody's keeping you here," Jane said.

"I was sent to bring you back to Asgard," Amora said. "The Allfather commands it."

"I thought Odin hated me. Or...or is Thor the Allfather now? I never -"

"Prince Thor will be King, of that there is no doubt. But he is not yet King."

"Aand we're back to how Odin hates me."

"He has sent me to bring you to Asgard," Amora said, wondering how much trouble she'd be in if she paralyzed this mortal and undid it once back in Asgard with the woman. "And the Allfather hates me far more than he does you."

"Why would he trust you with fetching me, if he hates you?" Jane asked.

"Why should I waste time bantering in your brick hut, earning further ire from the Allfather, if I do not trust you?" Amora asked, and with a finger, flicked out a bit of green energy which drew Jane to alongside Amora. "Now we go," Amora said, right as the apartment door opened and Darcy saw - 

Not entirely sure what was going on - _but doubting that it's at all good or even remotely good_ \- Darcy charged at Amora. "Let go of my -!"

Placing one arm around Jane's shoulders, Amora used her other hand to immobilize Darcy in place, and then cast a spell which surrounded the three of them in a green fog which swiftly lifted... and they were all in Asgard. She let go of Jane, and de-immobilized Darcy.

"- friend!" Darcy said. "Wow. Nice place. Not yours, I bet," she said to Amora.

"This is Asgard," Jane said.

"Huh."

"Gladsheim, I think. The Palace," Jane added.

"Follow along," Amora told them both.

"Not a chance," Jane said, standing her ground.

"Have you ever been hunted by ravens?" Amora asked.

"No."

"Do you want to be?"

"You're threatening us _now_?"

A little smile spread across Amora's lips at the placement of the mortal's emphasis. "I do not control the Allfather's birds," _nor state how disturbing it is that the ravens have not been seen for days. More and more clever at every turn, those wiles with wings._

"Ah," Darcy said. _So if we don't go with you, Odin'll be pissed enough to send Hitchcock's birds after us?_ "Fine, lead on, MacDuff."

Amora just looked at them. "Follow," she said at last, leading them to the throne room, where they joined those standing at the back of the assembled throng.

"Sif," Amora said.

"Amora," Sif said, then noticed who had been brought along. "Jane Foster. And..."

"Darcy Lewis," Darcy said. "So, you're Sif...she's Amora..." pausing long enough for them to nod. "Dare I ask where Sigyn and Jarnsaxa are?"

"The astronomer is behind you, three people between you. But why would you ask after my mother?"

At the forefront of the throng, was Odin Allfather, lord of the Nine Realms. He struck his staff against the ground, turning all to silence and gaining the full attention of those who had previously had divided attentions. Odin said, "Jane Foster! The Nine Realms witnessed your deeds, and I have been moved to reverse my prior ruling. You yourself are welcome in Asgard as our equal. And it is to you that a long-vacant seat will be given." To the room and all assembled, Odin pronounced, "Behold, Jane Foster, Governor of Midgard. Behold, Sif Jarnsaxasdottir, Highest Aide to the Governor of Midgard."

 _Saved by the Odin,_ Darcy thought.

"?" Sif said quietly.

"My thoughts exactly," Jane said.

Odin rose to his feet, leaning heavily upon his staff for support. "I grow weary. I need more rest," and was halfway down the steps from the throne when he paused as though he had just realized something. "As this is not the first time he has been presumed dead, it shall be so for matters of succession - Loki whom I raised from infancy, is struck from the rolls of succession and title. There no longer is anything in Asgard or any other Realm which is his. All who owe him debts and favors, consider those obligations nullified."

* * *

"And now Loki has nothing, and Sif has everything," Jane said with the four of them sitting on Darcy's balcony.

"I have much," Sif corrected.

"Does this help? You know, with what you told me last time you were here?"

Sif sipped her beer.

"It is a considerable swing to her advantage," Amora said, sniffing at the bottle Darcy had handed her after everyone else got a bottle of beer.

"You wanted wine?" Darcy asked her.

"I prefer mead."

"Tough. We don't have honey."

"You could have asked," Amora said, and pointed to Darcy's bottle.

"I don't want to know what that means," Darcy said, sitting down and taking a drink of hers - and spitting it back out. "The hell?"

"You turned it to mead?" Sif asked.

"I did," Amora said. "Though why these mortals keep confusing me with another, I do not understand."

"Remember that missionary priest who kept hitting on you?"

Amora nodded. "Ah. They worship that Roman god."

"Jane does," Darcy said quietly. "And Thor's muscles."

All four of them shared a smile at that jest.

"But back to important stuff," Darcy said while Amora was zapping everyone else's beer into mead.

Sif groaned.

"It's like Odin _knew_ ," Jane said.

Amora looked over at her and decided that saying 'of course Odin knew - he always does' wouldn't help. _Besides which..._

"So, boss lady, anything I'm supposed to call you now?" Darcy asked Jane. Jane shrugged, so Darcy turned the question over to Sif and Amora.

"How do you address a living god?" Amora asked in reply.

"Pharaoh. Empress. Caesar. Caesar Foster, I like."

"I'm sure you do, Darcy," Jane said, "but there are more important things to deal with right now."

"Not so," Sif said. "Under normal circumstances, your Realm draws little to no attention. Of late, it has become a magnet."

"Translation?"

"You must lead an army."

"I will draw out the Avengers," Amora said. "Begin with them."

"Couldn't we just tell them what happened?" Jane asked.

Amora nearly rolled her eyes. "Of course. Utterly no fun, but we can."

"Question - who was the last governor of Earth?" Darcy asked. "Or is 'long-vacant' a polite way of creating a new job position around here?"

"Jord," Sif and Amora both spat.

"Not a buddy for either of you?"

"Had this obsession with monkeys," Amora said, shuddering.

"Aren't we all evolved monkeys?" Jane asked.

Amora smiled a 'oh god you just keep getting more adorable' smile, and said "Mammals had not evolved at the time of Jord's reign."

"Oh."

* * *

Later that evening, while Jane and Sif discussed something outside, Darcy had taken Amora inside to introduce her to the wonders of ice cream and Nintendo - _not as easy as it could be, given that she keeps threatening the tv with magical incineration._ "So, who takes the throne now?" Darcy asked.

"Thor," Amora said.

"And if Thor doesn't want to be king?"

Amora made a small noise denoting her startlement and disbelief. Then, "There is no established practice."

"You're shitting me. No, I take that back, don't ask. You've got to be kidding, though," Darcy said. "How can space aliens with a king, not have any clue who's next in line?"

"Our present king took the throne from his sister, Ve, who was handed the throne by her father, Bor, who created the throne upon the death of his father, Buri."

"Oh. Can ya make a guess, who _you think_ might be next in line?"

"Whomever the Allfather selects. If he wishes to have his successor be from his lineage, then -"

"He'd better get fathering?" Darcy asked.

"No. Then he must convince Heimdall to leave the Observatory and rule the Nine Realms."

"Heimdall?"

"Yes."

"Sif's brother?" Darcy asked.

"Yes," Amora said patiently.

Darcy hummed a few bars of a particular song, then said, "Let me introduce you to a terrible weapon of my world - we call it 'its a small world after all.'"

* * *

Jane and Sif were outside on the balcony, engrossed in the merits of particular types of glass, when Jane caught a movement out the corner of her eye. She turned her head - Sif following likewise - and saw - "Loki," Jane said. "You're...not dead."

"I noticed that," was all Loki said, and not as biting as he might once have made it; both Jane and Sif noticed that much. "I wish to speak with the once-Knight and now-Governor's Aide Sif."

"It is fine," Sif said to Jane's questioning look. _Even if he could,_ "He will not harm me." When Jane went inside, Sif asked him "What business brings you back from the borderlands of Hel, Loki?"

"Odin knows what I have done, even if near all of Asgard and the Realms know little at most of what I know of his doings," Loki said. "I volunteered for the stripping of all title from myself. No doubt he thinks it will have the same humbling outcome that Thor's brief mortalization did."

"Humble?" Sif chuckled.

Loki shrugged. "I would not presume to correct the Allfather, assumption or not. And there is a thing I must confess to you."

"Go ahead," Sif said.

"Long have I admired you. You know of my respect for your wit and your skill with blade and motion, my praise for your athleticism against friend and foe on the training sands and upon battlefields. But it is respect which has kept still my tongue in regard to how I feel for you."

Sif looked at him, her eyes wide, pupils contracted to focus upon him. _You as well??_

Loki misread that, taking it as suspicion, even horror. "I shall not move more than you will it. If you wish to continue what we were to one another, I shall not object nor advance from there, accepting it. If you wish to shed association with me, I will not argue against, and will move away. I would, if you permit, enter your household; even as a servant."

Her eyes returning to normal, "Your father ordered the wiping of all slates of favors and debts to and from you, Loki," Sif said. "He did not command any to forget our camaraderie or our trust forged through so many battles, nor would I even had he commanded it."

 _You may regret saying that, for..._ "And there is one further confession I have to make to you," Loki said.

Sif nodded for him to continue.

"You recall when the Allfather fell into the Odinsleep, and I was left no choice but to sit upon the throne?"

"I do," Sif said, her muscles uneasy at the recall.

"This is what he revealed to me before his collapse into Odinsleep..." Loki said, and it was his fingers that changed first, turning a blue that struck warning bells in Sif's mind - she recalled that battle all too easily and quite well - and it spread down his hands and unseen under his clothes, surfacing again at his face. A face which now wore red eyes and lines both raised and lowered.

Sif stood there, stock still, taking it in, mind reeling, not quite rebelling. _Loki... Why...? Why didn't you tell me...?_

In his Jotun appearance, Loki said quietly to her that, "Sif, I will need your support and benevolence, ever and ever I suspect. Will you help and stand with me in this?"

"I shall," Sif said. And, interupting what for Loki had been a long moment of joy and relief, Sif added "And now Jane Foster's comment to me makes greater sense."

"Comment?" Loki asked.

 _You told her, but not me? Granted, Jane Foster would not have as far to go in coming to accept that - but I shall._ "Yes. Clearly you must have revealed your nature to her as well, for she asked me if I wanted to help build a snowman." _You may enter my household, but not to be served nor to serve._


	3. Alternate Ending

Jane and Sif were outside on the balcony, engrossed in the merits of particular types of glass, when Jane caught a movement out the corner of her eye. She turned her head - Sif following likewise - and saw - "Loki," Jane said. "You're...not dead."

"I noticed that," was all Loki said, and not as biting as he might once have made it; both Jane and Sif noticed that much. "I wish to speak with the once-Knight and now-Governor's Aide Sif."

"It is fine," Sif said to Jane's questioning look. _Even if he could,_ "He will not harm me." When Jane went inside, Sif asked him "What business brings you back from the borderlands of Hel, Loki?"

"Odin knows what I have done, even if near all of Asgard and the Realms know little at most of what I know of his doings," Loki said. "I volunteered for the stripping of all title from myself. No doubt he thinks it will have the same humbling outcome that Thor's brief mortalization did."

"Humble?" Sif chuckled.

Loki shrugged. "I would not presume to correct the Allfather, assumption or not. And there is a thing I must confess to you."

"Go ahead," Sif said.

"Long have I admired you. You know of my respect for your wit and your skill with blade and motion, my praise for your athleticism against friend and foe on the training sands and upon battlefields. But it is respect which has kept still my tongue in regard to how I feel for you."

Sif looked at him, her eyes wide, pupils contracted to focus upon him. _You as well??_

Loki misread that, taking it as suspicion, even horror. "I shall not move more than you will it. If you wish to continue what we were to one another, I shall not object nor advance from there, accepting it. If you deem me fit only for battling, I will ready myself to engage in combat. If you wish to shed association with me, I will not argue against, and will move away. I would, if you permit, enter your household; even as a servant."

Her eyes returning to normal, "Your father ordered the wiping of all slates of favors and debts to and from you, Loki," Sif said. "He did not command any to forget our camaraderie or our trust forged through so many battles, nor would I even had he commanded it."

"Then what do you wish?" Loki asked. "What say you, Sif?" Loki asked.

"That I will kill you, and you need to run," Sif said, but did not say it as she spoke to defeated enemies or undefeated enemies. Loki thought - considered if he imagined it - thought he heard affection in it. And then she pulled him to her, against her; kissing long and hard.

And then she shoved him away, Loki landing on his butt.

"Run," Sif told him. "Because you don't want me to catch you easily."

Loki smiled, _And now we have a chance_ , and bolted away.

Sif gave chase. Did not - would never - abandon her duties - but did not ignore the pursuit either.


End file.
